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Jul 20, 2016

Wednesday, July 20, 2016 Janice Luttrell

Theme - HIGH TIMES. The first word of common two-word phrases can follow the word HIGH to make other recognizable, in-the-language phrases.

Lets start with the unifier -- 24 D. Top-of-the-line, and what each of the four longest puzzle answers begins with? : HIGH END. Indicating merchandise with a large price tag, presumably justified by comparable quality or some other mark of desirability. Let's see how it fits with the theme entries

3 D. Contact skating sport : ROLLER DERBY. A roller skating race on a track between two 5-member teams. Each team has a designated jammer, who attempts to score points by lapping members of the other team. The teams attempt to assist their own jammer while hindering the other teams jammer. The result is mayhem.

A HIGH ROLLER is a big spender or one who places large bets.

9. Act too quickly : JUMP THE GUN. An expression derived from racing events, where the start of the race is announced with a piston shot. One who starts too soon acts too quickly and can be disqualified.

The HIGH JUMP is an athletic event in which competitors jump over a horizontal bar.

27. Kind of tackle made illegal in the NFL in 2005 : HORSE COLLAR. A dangerous method of tacking consisting of grabbing inside the back of another player's collar or shoulder pads and dragging him backwards to the ground.

To be on one's HIGH HORSE is to act in an arrogant and disdainful manner.

31. Cartoon bird that first appeared in "Fast and Furry-ous" : ROAD RUNNER. Here's a clip from the 1949 cartoon.

To take the HIGH ROAD is to behave in a morally superior manner, as for example, to avoid being drawn into acting negatively. Probably not compatible with the previous theme entry.

Hi gang - JazzBumpa here to explore today's offering. Janice Luttrell has given us a rather unusual grid with a couple horizontal 9-stacks. But the theme answers are all vertical 10's and 11's. This inevitably leads to a large number [25] of three-letter fill, due to grid constraints. But the average word length is 4.92, solidly in the Wednesday pocket. Why arrange it this way? Each theme word that combines with the unifier is at the HIGH END of its fill. So the theme not only works on its own; it also illustrates itself graphically. Most elegant!

Let's see what other goodies we can uncover.

Across

1. Dropped the ball : ERRED. Misplaying the ball is one way to make an ERROR in baseball. Throwing inaccurately is another.

6. Pantry pest : ANT. They bug me.

9. Puts in a cooler : JAILS. American slang

14. Successor of Pope John X : LEO VI. His term ran from ca. June, 928 until his death in ca. February 929.

19. Pasadena institute : CAL TECH. The California Istitute of Technology, a private university specializing in science and engineering.

21. Mysterious power : ESP. Extra-Sensory Perception. The ability - if you believe that sort of thing - to acquire information without using the known physical senses, including such psychic phenomena as telepathy, clairvoyance and precognition.

38. Speedmaster watchmaker : OMEGA. This is a line of CHRONOGRAPH [time display plus stop watch] wrist watches. They have been worn by U. S. astronauts during NASA's Gemini 4 and Apollo 11 missions. It is the only watch qualified for extra-vehicular activity.

40. __ Na Na : SHA. A retro doo-wap singing group, and also their TV show of the same name, that ran from 1977 to '81. Their name is derived from this song, originally recorded by the Silhouettes in 1957.

Are you picking up some mini-themes?

41. Gypsum painting surface : GESSO. A mixture of pigment, gypsum and/or chalk with a binder used a primer to prepare a wood of canvas painting surface.

42. Whittled : PARED. Trimmed down, either literally or figuratively.

43. President pro __ : TEM. The second highest ranking official in the U. S. Senate, typically the most senior member of the majority party. According to the Constitution, the Vice president of the U. S. is the President of the Senate. Theoretically, the President Pro Tem acts in his absence. In practice, though, neither person actually presides over the Senate. This responsibility is rotated among junior senators of the majority party, to give them procedural experience - or, more likely, because the senior members foist it upon them..

44. Salt Lake City collegian : UTE. One who matriculates at the University of Utah.

45. Remains in the fire? : EMBERS. Last glowing bits that will soon be ashes. Nice play on "remains."

43 comments:

FIW. Only had one WAG I was really in doubt about, the natick where SOBA + SETTE, but that was correct. The problem turned out to be LEO XI + EX(c)ITE. I'd never heard of EVITE.com* as a website, just a type of e-mail. I knew there were a lot of LEOs, so 11 seemed reasonable (13 Leos, 23 Johns, though legend is that a lot of mideval ones were johns of a different sort). BTW, in looking that up, Francis is the first pope to not have a number after his name (some added posthumusly) since Lando C̶a̶l̶r̶i̶s̶s̶i̶a̶n̶ in 913 ᴄᴇ, John X's immediate predecessor. And at 23, John is well ahead of the next most common, Gregory and Benedict, both maxed out at 16.

Bothered a bit about the reveal coming so early, but I needed it anyway, so absolution is granted. This time.

*If you're an entrepenuer, evite.org and exite.com are both unowned, and can be bought cheap through 1and1.com.

{B+, B}

A famous ALCHEMIST was Dr. John Dee,In wizardly robes, he looked rather TWEE!He couldn't transmuteLead to gold loot,But SODA to slush he invented ICEE!

We all have our strengths and weaknesses. I love music, but I can't read it, barely know the names of the scale, and only now am finally starting to get familiar with some of the terms such as sotto, piano, and forte.

Couldn't help but start right smack dab in the middle of this one. The pattern called for it. SHA, TEM, ALCHEMIST, and NAMESAKES fell in seconds. Then NEIN, ION, RE ME, and CHE as I worked outward. ME ?

Most of the puzzle fell pretty quickly and the cluing seemed to be appropriate for the day. But HIGH END almost cost me. :>) Get it ?

Was pretty sure that HEH would be correct. Couldn't fit Bite-Sized in there. Besides, just needed the second H. Was also pretty sure that I needed a D to start DSO. Should have sussed the G for IGN. Those missing letters and having ME instead of MI almost caused a Wednesday fail. All's well that ends well.

Liked your astute Pro TEM observation JzB. As in, “Like it? Well I don’t see why I oughtn’t to like it. Does a boy get a chance to whitewash a fence every day?”

Had to verify that Justin and Kate are still an "item" after seeing your pic.

Yep. LAYS UP. Part of my forte. Key component of course management. LAYS UP must be derived from some Scottish saying.

What are the SPECS on that SPEC house ? A carpenter contractor golfing buddy of mine rolled the dice and built a HIGH END SPEC house. He offered it for sale just after the mortgage meltdown in '08. Put too many eggs in one basket. He's finally recovered from near ruin. All's well that ends well.

Got off to a bit of a weird start on this one. I put in ERRED at 1A right out of the gate, but then tried EDUCE for 1D (which was 1 letter short), RETIE for 2D (which was 1 letter short) and ROLLERBALL for 3D (which was 1 letter short). I thought that maybe there was something funky going on with the theme until I finally realized that ROLLERBALL was the movie about the sport ROLLER DERBY.

After that, things went pretty smoothly. LASYUP was unknown to me (in a golf context) and I needed the perps to get RSA, but that was about it.

Good Morning, JazzB and friends. I just sped through this puzzle and quickly got all the long answers on the first pass. Ironically, it was the unifier that was the last fill for me in today's puzzle.

My favorite clue was Puts in the Cooler = JAILS.

When I drink soda, my first choice is CREAM SODA, which is usually and A&W.

We've been getting a lot more E-VITES recently.

QOD: When I was growing up, my parents told me, “Finish your dinner. People in China and India are starving.” I tell my daughters, “Finish you homework. People in India and China are starving for your job.” ~ Thomas Friedman (b. July 20, 1953)

Enjoyed most of today's offering. Not only the long downs but also the theme schtick. But, like JzB said, it invites a plethora of 3 letter fill. Had same luck with WAGs as with finesses in Bridge. GESSO worked; EVITE did not; never heard of it - had exite. There were 13 Pope Leos so Leo XI seemed as good a guess as Leo VI. Sic transit gloria.

JzB, thanks for the great review and the many enjoyable links. This puzzle was okay and solved easily. Although I scored very well on reading comprehension all through school, I,too, found the reveal awkward. I do "get" it, but....."Each theme word that combines with the unifier is at the HIGH END of its fill." Yes it is, but that is a fairly tortured gimmick. Maybe I am just cranky today.The good/bad news is that Alan's tests yesterday had good results, but he is back to feeling terrible with no discernible reason after having had a fine Monday and Tuesday. I almost hoped the tests were somewhat abnormal so we could pin down the cause.Delightful weather today. I bought some more corn just now. I am so jealous of you lucky stiffs who have sun-ripe local tomatoes. I can hardly wait. This is the first year I have not planted my own.

Good Wednesday outing from Janice and an in-depth write-up by JzB. I was able to solve it without any help today other than a reliance on perps. Good clips by JzB.

Learned a few things today. Never knew about TWEE, GESSO and SOBA. Perps all the way.

I did have CHRICHTON before ROBINCOOK became evident. Perps again correcting the error of my ways.

Today is National Lollipop day which brings back memories of the Chordettes singing LOLLIPOP back in the '50's. Relive your childhood days and have a Tootsie Pop, Dum-Dum Pop, Rainbow Pop or a Charms today.

Is the 'High Times' headline for our CO, AK, WA, & D.C. stoners? This wasn't a LOW BUDGET puzzle and maybe 'Royal Flush' would have been better than HIGH END because the the 'high' was describing the beginning, not the END (I know- they were on the 'top' of the fills)

I only had one write over- HEE to HEH- because the unknowns- ILLIN, CREAM SODA, ROBIN COOK, SOBA, LES, TWEE- were easily filled by the perps.

TTP-I usually only LAY UP on a golf course that I have never played before. It never seems to help when I do and golf balls are cheap.Hahtoolah- My parents said' children in EUROPE are starving. I like you job comment.Abejo- There's a local ROLLER DERBY team in New Orleans and a couple of weeks ago they had a 'running of the bulls' in the French Quarter where they were the bulls (cows?) and hit all the runners with foam bats. Big crowd.

I would like to see the following clue" "Name a Pope" because I always fill them by perps.

• Are we experiencing a chrono-inversion? – the crosswords seem to be getting easier as the week elicits.

• Or maybe we are WATCHing a crazy Swiss connection - FYI, Dada was born 100 years ago today, in Zurich. OMEGA(d)! And to the SWISS countryside – DO-RE-MI – who can forget the young Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music? The EURO, however, is not SWISS CAPITAL (is that money to BERNE?), NOR Brit, Danish, or Norwegian. Not Russian either - that's the DOPE.

• JzB – thanks for a compendious write-up and for that old Chemist joke – an oldie but goldie (so don't tell it to the Alchemists)

• I had no issue with the theme - some people are so pedantic..... I would even have settled without "at the beginning". since the thematons [I just made that word up] are all vertical.

• FYI, the British TWEE* also has comparative and superlative forms - TWEER and TWEEST – now you don't get much CUTESIER than that.

Thank you Janice for a fun diversion while Bro & I wait to paint* (it's raining). Brother's not a regular solver but he had fun with his copy of the grid and extends his thanks. JzB, thanks for the fun writeup and HERDing us through the puzzle. Enjoyed the WKRP clip - have I mentioned how much I love that show?...

What OKL & Spitz said... I even convinced my brother ExITE must be a .com. We all ERRED there. FIW.

WOs: wED b/f LED. Me b/f MI

ESP: GESSO. My brother knew it - little wanker. I am glad he's finally STATE SIDE after years of deployment.

Fav: c/a for 9a; great misdirection -- Bro & I both wanted to ice-up(?) our beer.

Except for our middle names, I'm Grandpa's (RIP) & Pop's NAME SAKE. We do, however, have the same middle init.

Bro didn't know SHA Na Na and wants to argue TER (he worked in a pharmacy when 18yro). I told him TER is right if not a bit archaic and the Corner has had that argument before. He's still sore about it and ITCHES for a fight.

The "greatest American you've never heard of," Norman Borlaug, saved a billion people from starvation, won the Nobel Peace Prize 1970, championed The Green Revolution against the gloom-and-doom prophet of overpopulation, Stanford economist Paul Erlich (The Population Bomb, 1968) I find many Westerners cling to the myths of their childhood, and don't give Borlaug his due.

Super Wednesday puzzle, Janice--thank you so much! I got the whole thing pretty readily without any cheating or any problems--Yay! And nice expo, JazzB. I too think that having the HIGH END theme answers all be vertical was unusual and very clever.

HIGH Y'all! After today no one can say Janice doesn't concoct a HIGH END puzzle. Thanks! Thanks, Jazz!

I thought LOW BUDGET & CREAM SODA were also theme entries and went a little batty trying to make sense of HIGH LOW & HIGH CREAM, altho the CREAM does rise to the top in a milk bottle (boy, that dates me).

A pro golfer sometimes LAYS UP if there are trees or other obstacles between the ball and the hole.

YR: Loved your video. I shall ever after have the vision of you in your cute costume paddling along beside the ancient mariner. Fun! On a less happy note, have you tried checking Alan with a glucose meter for low blood sugar on the days he gets up feeling terrible? I have this problem. It seems to happen if I have eaten less and expended more energy the preceding day. So maddening. The doctors never find it. I can empathize with Alan.

So far this week is making me feel that I'm a much better solver than I really am. Last week was so tough, this week is a lot easier so far. That's not to say these are poor puzzles, rather they are well constructed and clued which makes them seem easier. IMHO.

Kate Upton - lovely to look at and all, but once I saw her interviewed I came to the conclusion that all she has to offer is her image.

110˚F heat index got my golf done by 9 am and lawn mowed by 10 am. My sister then texted me from her vacation to water her garden and so THEN I could finally do Janice’s lovely puzzle and read Jazz’s fun write-up

Musings-At our 50th reunion I tolerated my arrogant, disdainful classmate. His wife is lovely!-Pols that take the HIGH ROAD had better not have quit their day job-A famous COOLER scene (2:42)-Saying, “You be ILLIN’” might guarantee “You be unemployed”-This fabulous movie shot on a LOW BUDGET of $770,000 turned a 9,000% profit-Of course you all know the fabulous moviewhere SHA NA NA’s Hand Jive was featured-I remember GESSO from blogging a C.C./Don Gagliardo Sunday, March 13 puzzle this year-Bobby Darin was CAST as the lead in The Hustler but dumped when Paul Newman became available -Some have said that Newton as an ALCHEMIST did change lead into gold -7 down - Neither snow, ___ rain, ___ heat, ___ gloom of night…-My girls loved it when my dad brought them this cheap CREAM SODA . Was it in your area?-If it takes my best drive of 250 yds to get over, hand me a 5 iron

I used to grip it and rip it, and go for it on every shot, but found with experience that laying up can be a real stroke saver. Especially on the top 5 or so handicap holes, provided that none are par 3s.

I hate penalty strokes. Plus, we play for a little money just to keep it a bit more interesting. I've birdied the top three handicap holes at our regular course this year. Birdies pay double. I like $aving $troke$.

Big DNF today, the whole mid right was blank due to 9D.I had jumped the gun by inking "jump to soon..."I had a feeling that 37A was Euros, but there were so many unknowns in that area, I could not save it.

Well, Longbeach, it's light years from being the end of the story. Heh and snicker are defined as quiet, sly kinds of laughs or exclamations of suppressed amusement. Hee, on the other hand, isn't even a word. Perhaps you were thinking of tee-hee.

I was on my way for a bike ride and trip to the local farmer's market. I had a little Velcro bag containing my billfold and with room for the tomatoes I was going to buy. I got to the market, got my bike -- but no bag. I figured I had set it on the trunk when loading my bike onto the bike rack. Panic set in. Credit cards, driver's license, money, etc. I guessed it had fallen off somewhere enroute. I began perspiring heavily. I retraced my route back to the house as worry began to mount. Nothing.

Oops! There it was in the middle of the street about a half block from my house. What a relief!